Glenn Dyer’s TV ratings — Wonderland an expensive turkey for hapless Ten

Forget the results (Seven won nationally, metro and regionally from a weakish Nine, with the ABC third and Ten a distant fourth). Focus instead on the new disaster at Ten where nothing, repeat nothing is working. Wonderland, the new Sydney based drama that was supposedly an offshoot of Offspring (that’s what Ten hinted at in its marketing), is now a turkey with 588,000 national/ 420,000 metro/ 168,000 regional viewers. The national audience is now smaller than its metro launch audience. The Bachelor as the lead-in at 7.30pm (829,000 national/ 612,000 metro/ 217,000 regional viewers) was again better than on Monday nights, but still not good. And when The Bachelor does better with the core audience than a program like Wonderland, you know how weak the latter has become.

Gruen Planet on ABC1 at 8.30pm was up to its usual standard. But why didn’t anyone mention the Essendon scandal when extolling the virtues of the AFL vs the NRL? Especially when one panel member, Bram Williams, said the NRL had had a year full of bad news, but failed to mention the Essendon peptide scandal. If you are handing out brickbats, and the NRL deserves a few, then you have to be even handed. Apart from that it was another entertaining episode. And finally, are Gruen Planet/Nation the most ironic shows on TV? More people have watched Ten’s number two executive, Russel Howcroft, each Wednesday night on the two Gruens than watch any Ten program on Wednesday nights and many other nights. He is more popular with ABC viewers than most of his network’s shows are with its fans.

Network channel share:

1. Seven (31.4%)
2. Nine (27.7%)
3. ABC (19.1%)
4. Ten (16.4%)
5. SBS (5.5%)

Network main channels:

1. Seven (22.8%)
2. Nine (19.3%)
3. ABC1 (13.9%)
4. Ten (10.8%)
5. SBS ONE  (4.4%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. 7mate  (5.0%)
2. GO (4.5%)
3. Gem (3.9%)
4. 7TWO (3.5%)
5. Eleven (3.3%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Seven News — 1.681 million
2. Nine News — 1.617 million
3. Winners & Losers (Seven) — 1.530 million
4. ABC News — 1.397 million
5. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.357 million
6. SlideShow (Seven) — 1.354 million
7. Gruen Planet (ABC1) — 1.314 million
8. The Man With The Biggest Testicles (Seven) — 1.263 million
9. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.214 million
10. Today Tonight (Seven) — 1.150 million

Top metro programs:

1. Nine News — 1.137 million
2. Seven News — 1.096 million
3. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.019 million
4. Winners & Losers (Seven) — 1.017 million

Losers:  Ten — just pathetic. Tractor Monkeys on ABC1, returning at 8pm. How this one ever escaped close confinement for a second series is beyond me. It averaged 844 national/ 574,000 metro/ 270,000 regional viewers. Lightweight, not funny.Metro news and current affairs:

1. Nine News — 1.137 million
2. Seven News — 1.096 million
3. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.019 million
4. ABC News — 967,000
5. Today Tonight (Seven) — 882,000
6. 7.30 (ABC 1) — 734,000
7. The Project (Ten) — 540,000
8. Ten News — 509,000
9. Lateline (ABC1) — 180,000
10. SBS World News — 164,000

Metro morning TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) – 383,000
2. Today (Nine) – 311,000
3. News Breakfast (ABC1, 59,000 + 40,000 on News 24) — 99,000

Top five pay TV channels:

1. Fox 8 (3.2%)
2. TV1, LifeStyle (2.9%)
3. Disney (1.9%)
4. Cartoon Network (1.6%)
5. UKTV, Fox Classics (1.5%)

Top five pay TV programs:

1. Location Location Location Australia  (LifeStyle) –  114,000
2. AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) – 90,000
3. Selling Houses Australia (LifeStyle) – 78,000
4. NRL: 360 (Fox Sports 1) – 74,000
5. NCIS (TV1) – 72,000

Tonight: Wanted, another Ten underperformer, ends tonight at 8.30pm, up against the NRL Footy Show in Brisbane and Sydney and the AFL Grand Final Footy Show on Nine in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. Obliteration looms for the final episode because Upper Middle Bogan and It’s A Date on ABC1 will do better as well. No wonder Ten shares have been under pressure (the looming float of the Nine Network isn’t helping either).

*Data © OzTAM Pty Limited 2013. The data may not be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of OzTAM. (All shares on the basis of combined overnight 6pm to midnight all people.) and network reports.